ABOUT RITA TOMALIN

Rita was born in Desborough, grew up in Kettering, and enjoyed careers in ballet/dance and nursing. Her early interest in art was inspired by a neighbour who gave her a paint-box when she was nine. Two years later she was thrilled to win first prize (a bicycle!) in a national painting competition. She developed her artistic skills further when she designed costumes for different kinds of dance.

After marriage, she supported her husband, and helped her two sons through school and university. On her retirement from nursing, she studied Art History with the Open College of Art, and completed a painting course with Elke Pollard. She sold her first painting (a portrait of the musician Sir Malcolm Arnold) to the then Mayor of Northampton in 2002, who also gave her her first commission. She was the joint winner with Lee Burrows of the Popular Vote during an exhibition at the Alfred East Gallery in 2010. 

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Rita continues to exhibit, experiment, sell, and receive commissions, focusing particularly on portraiture.